Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
heat ring
References
Britannica AI Icon

heat ring

beef
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

A "heat ring" in beef is a quality issue that occurs after slaughter due to uneven chilling rates of the muscles. This results in a dark, coarse band around the exterior of the muscle.1

This happens when the outer part of the muscle, especially if it has a thin fat layer, chills too quickly. This rapid chilling slows down the pH decline in that outer layer, leading to the formation of a dark-colored ring.1

Electrical stimulation of beef carcasses after slaughter can help prevent heat rings by promoting a more uniform pH decline throughout the muscle.1

A "dish ring" (also called a potato ring) was a ring-shaped stand used under dishes of hot food.2

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
2 Britannica Sources
  1. dish ring
  2. meat processing - Heat ring

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.